Rachel's Table

Since 1992, Rachel's Table has been working to alleviate hunger and reduce food waste in Western Massachusetts. Six days a week, more than 200 volunteers collect food from local supermarkets, restaurants, caterers and bakeries, and deliver it to 43 agencies, including soup kitchens, food pantries, and shelters. Our agencies, which are located in Springfield, Longmeadow, West Springfield, Feeding Hills, Chicopee, Holyoke, and Indian Orchard, depend upon Rachel's Table as an ongoing source of nutritious and tasty food. Rachel's Table is also a catalyst for community activism. Our volunteers come from varied backgrounds, religions and cultures, and range in age from teenagers to people in their nineties. In 2007, we initiated a gleaning program that provides students and other young volunteers with the opportunity to rescue thousands of pounds of nutritious produce from local farms. The volunteers bring the produce to the agencies, giving them the powerful experience of directly helping those in need.